Michael Koncz in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday afternoon (Photo: Chris Robinson – www.HustleBoss.com)

By Chris Robinson

As reported by various outlets, the ring return of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao appears to be set for November 23rd in Macau, China.

And while the Filipino icon’s next opponent isn’t set, we do know two foes he won’t be facing; Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley.

Pacquiao lost a controversial split-decision to Bradley this past June and suffered a horrific, one-punch knockout at the hands of Marquez in December. The two men opted to turn down lucrative deals in facing Pacquiao again and instead will be squaring off with one another on September 14th inside of the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Speaking with Pacquiao’s advisor Michael Koncz on Thursday afternoon, he admitted he was taken aback by Marquez and Bradley’s actions.

“I was quite surprised, actually,” Koncz admitted. “Because, we offered Marquez 13 million dollars and then we offered Bradley $6 million. And on top of the Bradley offer, we told him that we’ll fight 12 rounds for a different title. He can keep his title, his WBO title. We’ll fight for the ‘People’s champ’ title.

“That was part of the negotiations, that if Bradley fought us and proved to the world that he couldn’t beat us again, he was still the WBO champion,” Koncz added. “It made no sense to me.”

At the moment it seems likely that junior welterweight contenders Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado, fresh off of a pair of thrilling battles with one another, are the leading candidates to land the Pacquiao clash yet Koncz isn’t certain.

“I wouldn’t say Rios and Alvarado are frontrunners,” he stated. “They’re certainly in the picture, but we’ll see if they don’t overprice themselves. If we can’t come to an agreement, there’s a lot of fighters out there.”

PLEASE  CHECK  OUT more recent exclusives from Chris Robinson below

Yuriorkis Gamboa full mitt workout inside of 50 Cent’s new gym in Las Vegas

Roy Jones Jr. on 50 Cent’s involvement in boxing, the latest with Jean Pascal, Mayweather-Guerrero

Nate Jones speaks following his trash-talk and war of words with Ruben and Robert Guerrero

Floyd Mayweather Sr. believes his son would knock out Danny Garcia

Rafael Garcia has no hard feelings towards Ruben Guerrero; claims Robert gets stopped in 7 or 8

Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com